AudioVision in the Middle Ages: Sainte Foy At Conques/Exhibition

Exhibition at the Stanford Art Gallery, January 24-March 17, 2023

Medieval art is silent in modern times. Often displayed in sterile museum galleries, it is most often presented without any analysis of the intended envelope of sound, chant, prayer, and recitation. Stripped of this aural atmosphere, these objects have lost the power to signify and to elicit affect. This exhibition restores aspects of the original soundscape to explore the inherent connections between chant and image in medieval times. It is the first to engage medieval art from the perspective of AudioVision–the simultaneous flow of visual and auditory stimuli. The focus is on the ninth-century golden statue and reliquary of Sainte-Foy at Conques and the traditions of its eleventh-century public worship.